SoloDesks vs ServiceM8, for a solo trade

ServiceM8 is a well-built field-service app with a genuinely free tier, and it's priced by how many jobs you run each month. That works until a busy month pushes you into the next bracket. SoloDesks is priced by person instead of by job: a flat £12 a month on Pro, no job counter ticking in the background, plus a free plan of its own to start on. If your worry is a good month costing you more, flat pricing is the point.

Free plan, no card needed. £12/month for unlimited when you want it.

SoloDesks vs ServiceM8, side by side

ServiceM8's plans

ServiceM8 prices by monthly job volume, stepping up through tiers as you do more work. For reference, here is what ServiceM8 publishes, next to SoloDesks's flat £12/month.

Those are ServiceM8's own UK prices, in pounds, read off its UK pricing page. SoloDesks Pro is £12 flat with no job counter at all. Two things worth saying plainly rather than burying: ServiceM8's free tier is more generous than ours on job count, at 30 jobs a month against our 10 quotes and 10 invoices, and its paid plans carry unlimited users where we have no concept of a second user at all. If you are weighing free tiers alone, or you might hire, theirs goes further.

Questions people ask

Is SoloDesks cheaper than ServiceM8?

It depends how much work you do. ServiceM8's free tier covers up to 30 jobs a month; above that its UK paid tiers start at £25 a month for 50 jobs, then £59 for 150 and £119 for 500. SoloDesks Pro is a flat £12 a month with no job limit, so a busy month never moves you to a higher price.

What's the real difference in pricing?

ServiceM8 charges by how many jobs you run, so your bill moves with your workload. SoloDesks charges by person, at one flat £12 a month on Pro however many jobs you do. If you'd rather your software cost the same in a quiet month and a flat-out one, that's the difference.

Does SoloDesks have a free plan like ServiceM8?

Yes. SoloDesks' free plan needs no card and doesn't expire, covering 10 quotes, 10 invoices and 10 emailed PDFs a month with unlimited clients and jobs. ServiceM8's free tier is capped at 30 jobs a month instead.

Comparing ServiceM8 to something other than SoloDesks?

• ServiceM8 vs TradifyServiceM8's bill goes up when you get busier. Tradify's goes up when you hire. Work out which of those two things is about to happen to you, and the choice makes itself.
• Jobber vs ServiceM8ServiceM8 is the cheaper way to put several people on the same system. Jobber is the more predictable bill when the work is unpredictable. Almost every real decision between these two comes down to which of those you would rather have.